


Howl

by angelskuuipo



Category: Bourne Legacy (2012)
Genre: Angst, F/M, GFY, Gen, Introspection, Not particularly happy thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 11:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelskuuipo/pseuds/angelskuuipo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are wolves in the world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Howl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shanachie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shanachie/gifts).



> Prompt: First landfall after the boat, post movie
> 
> This was written for the groovy, shanachie_quill’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Sweetie! I hope you like this. It honestly went a little sideways on me, but technically fills your prompt. It also got a little darker than I’d intended, but I kinda think it works. I borrowed the summary and one line from S3Ep1 of Leverage. Unbetaed, but I’ve read it over several times. If anyone notices any glaring errors, please point them out gently and I’ll fix it.  
> Written: September 12, 2013  
> Word Count: 1,344

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

It almost ended before it really began.

After almost two months on the boat, they were both suffering a little bit of culture shock. Their second night in Kota Kinabalu, the port the Captain had agreed to let them off at, Aaron ran into an old contact. It was pure chance and really bad luck. Aaron had cautiously hoped Maguire could help them, but it turned out he knew Aaron had been burned and had tried to take advantage of the situation. 

The bastard had gotten a lucky shot in with a haymaker to the temple (and Aaron was going to feel like _such_ an idiot later when he had time to reflect on the fight) that put Aaron on the ground. Before he could shake it off, Maguire was pointing a gun at him.

Aaron took a moment to send up a prayer that Marta would be alright without him then tensed his body to move. Who knew? He might get lucky. But the hit had been true, and Aaron was feeling woozy and a little off his game. If Maguire hadn’t decided to be a royal dumbass and try to monologue, Aaron likely would have been dead. Just as Maguire got warmed up, though, a bottle broke over his head, stunning him. 

Aaron stared blearily as his assailant staggered and he saw small, dainty hands catch Maguire around the head and a sickening snap echoed through the alley as his neck was broken. Aaron’s saviour pushed Maguire aside and he blinked, not quite able to believe that it was Marta standing there: breath shallow and rapid, a fine trembling making her body vibrate, and wide, over-bright eyes staring at him worriedly as she looked him over. 

Marta had the presence of mind to wipe the neck of the bottle free of her prints before she dropped it again next to the body. Then she gathered Aaron up and led him back to their hotel room where she cleaned him up and put him to bed. A couple of hours later, Aaron held her as she confessed that she wasn’t sorry that she’d killed a man, but that she hadn’t gotten to him before Aaron had been hurt. Hearing that, and knowing it was the truth, broke both of them a little bit. It took a long time for them to fall asleep that night.

That was when the dreams started. Over the next year and change they just got worse.

~*~

Aaron didn’t used to have nightmares. Or more likely, if he did he never remembered them. Now, with Marta by his side, he sometimes woke up shaking with adrenalin and the howl of wolves fading in his ears.

It was kind of funny (not really, but it was either laugh or go crazy) when he thought about it. The dreams he remembered weren’t about past missions or the torture disguised as training he went through to become an Outcome agent. Nah, he’d made his peace with all of that a long time ago. What he’d done for the American government had been important and his conscience was clear on that front.

No. The dreams or maybe it was more accurate to call them memories with a twist, he remembered now were about events a lot more recent.

He dreamed about being chased by a pack of wolves and his temporary housemate’s bitchy comment that maybe the pack didn’t think Aaron was human. It was about giving in to that primal part of himself and losing what was left of his humanity.

_There are wolves in the world._

He’d heard that somewhere once. Aside from the obvious, he figured whoever had said it was talking about human wolves. Hunters. Predators. Him.

He dreamed about handing a lighter to Marta and basically ordering her to torch her house and her life. It was about a small part of him feeling smug that he finally had the upper hand with her and not really feeling any shame about that.

He dreamed about teaching Marta hand-to-hand combat on the deck of the boat until certain moves became instinctual for her and then holding her as she cried at night for the life she left behind. It was about being glad that she had to rely on him to survive, even as he taught her how to take care of herself.

He dreamed about Kota Kinabalu. He dreamed about that night almost as much as he dreamed about the wolves. When he gave it actual thought, he figured those two instances were important turning points, both for him and Marta.

He dreamed about how much Marta had changed over the past year and a half. It was about not being all that sorry that he had had such a hand in re-shaping her into something new, something fierce. It was watching Marta slowly turn into someone he sometimes didn’t recognize anymore.

Gone was the scientist so focused on her research that she didn’t see people as people but as test subjects. In her place was a woman aware of her surroundings and alert to possible threats. She gave off a subtle aura of danger now instead of terrified determination. She had blood on her hands, more than just Maguire. She had become the warrior he’d once told her she was.

He thought, maybe, that he finally understood what Byer had meant when he’d called Aaron a Sin Eater.

He had turned a brilliant scientist into, well, not a carbon copy of himself, but a dangerous and competent asset in her own right. And the worst thing was, was that he wasn’t sorry. He wanted her to survive and this was the only way he knew to accomplish that objective. If something happened to him she could make it on her own. He knew that in his bones now. Mission accomplished.

~*~

Aaron woke up with a gasp and laid there staring at the ceiling for a long moment before he turned his head to see Marta still sleeping peacefully next to him. Rubbing his hands over his face he sat up and shifted his feet to the floor. With his elbows propped on his knees and his head cradled in his hands, Aaron took a moment to reflect.

They’d been on the run for almost two years now. Two of the hardest years he could remember. His life had never been much of a picnic, and he’d been on his own for most of it, but he didn’t used to have nightmares about it. Not that he remembered anyway. Now, it sometimes seemed like he was living in one.

Maybe the dreams would stop if he and Marta split up. He had taught her well and she was an apt and capable pupil. She’d be fine on her own. He shied away from that line of thought. Yeah, she might make it on her own, but he would always worry about her, and that kind of distraction was a good way to get dead. He was also selfish enough to not want to let her go. They’d forged something strong out of the ashes of Outcome and he didn’t want to see it end. Even though their lives were far from normal, he was glad to have someone to share it with.

Maybe that other agent had been right. Maybe he wasn’t human. Maybe he was one of the wolves in the world. He may have done some bad things, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was a bad person. And if he was more predator than prey, well, at least he had a mate; someone to watch his back, and someone he would watch out for in turn.

Maybe the howls made sense now. 

Maybe the pack was calling him, them, home.

With that thought in mind, Aaron lay back down and gathered Marta close. She hummed softly in her sleep, but didn’t wake. That simple trust soothed Aaron’s nerves and her gentle breathing lulled him back to sleep.

He didn’t dream anymore that night.

-30-


End file.
